Miss Perfect
by AmiRiaLiera
Summary: How could you not love her? Elena Gilbert is beautiful, rich and popular. What else could you want? Everyone loves her except one person. She didn't really care until she needed him most. The real question is, how will she get him to help her? Is it too late to ask for help and forgiveness? [Damon S.] [Elena G.]
1. Chapter 1

Miss Perfect

Long legs? Check. Beautifully tanned skin? Check. Big, bright doe eyes? Check. Slim body? Check. Rich Uncle? Check. Amazing friends? Check. Handsome, Quarterback boyfriend? Check. Soccer and cheer captain? Check. Straight A's? Check. Most popular girl in school? Check. Elena Gilbert has everything she could ever want. She was heading into her Junior year of high school, ready to take on the world… or so it seems.

"Elena!" A bright, piercing voice snaps her from her thoughts. She looks over to see a beautiful girl with radiant skin, golden blonde hair, and pretty blue eyes. She is wearing a trendy top with some nice ripped jeans, and her name is Caroline Forbes. Elena and she have been friends since kindergarten, and they've been inseparable since.

"Hey, Care!" Elena says enthusiastically, while giving her friend a warm hug. Caroline hugged her back just as tightly before the two girls seperated. "I've missed you. How was your summer?" Elena adds.

"Amazing, my family and I went to Haiti for the summer. I even met this really cute guy there." She replies with a slight flirtatious tone.

"Oh, you're going to have to tell me all about it!" Elena exclaimed excitedly. It seems as if conversations have always been this way with her. A part of her felt like she was pretending, but this is who she is now. No going back now.

"Later, right now we need to talk about you and your rumored new boyfriend, Matt Donivan." Caroline says with a smirk, and Elena blushes.

"W-well, maybe we are together…" She replies meekly and Caroline's grin widens.

"I knew it. Oh, you two are so cute together, and I swear he couldn't keep his eyes off of you, girl."

"I know, and I'm so excited for this new year. I have a feeling that it's going to be amazing!"

"Of course it is. When you're high school royalty, what could go wrong?" Caroline states and Elena giggles. 'What could go wrong?' she thought in her head. Nothing, of course. If only they knew what the world had in store for them.

The two girls walk further down the hall, and stop once they reach their lockers. A familiar voice is audible behind them. " Hey, hey, hey!" They turn around to see their other best friend, Bonnie Bennet. She has milky dark skin with dark brown, curly hair. Her eyes were dark and fierce, and like Caroline, Bonnie and Elena have been best friends since kindergarten.

"Bonnie!" Elena and Caroline exclaim, running up to hug her. The three of them hug each other, all of them giggling as they do so.

"How was your summer?" Caroline asks with a brow raised.

"Pretty boring, actually. I just had to stay with my weird grandma, since my dad and stepmonster went away on a romantic vacation." Bonnie replies while rolling her eyes.

"C'mon, Bonnie. You should warm up to, Malissa." Elena urges to Bonnie who just groans.

"And why should I? She is not my mom."

"I don't know, maybe because you're getting another chance at having a complete family." Elena says, slightly frustrated and they both go silent. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'll just go to class." Elena adds, quickly grabbing her bags. She feels an arm grab her, preventing her from leaving.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just miss my mom and… I'm just still not over it." Bonnie says apologetically.

"It's fine, I overreacted. It's not my place to tell you about what you should do, and how you should feel about your family. It's none of my business." Elena replies.

"We still cool?" Bonnie asks.

"We're cool." I reply with a soft smile. I usually wasn't this sensitive over the whole, 'parents dying.' situation, since it happened years ago. However, today is different. Today is the anniversary of their passing.

The bell ringing slightly startles the girls, and Caroline says, "We better get moving. Don't want to be late for class."

"Agreed." Bonnie replies, and the three of the head down the hallway, making comments about the passing students. Some nice… others not so nice. Despite what is said, everyone still adored them. Well, most of them at least. While they're walking down a face catches her attention, and he appears to be glaring at the trio.

"Who is that?" Elena asks with her brows knitted together. The two other girls turn their attention to where Elena's gaze lies.

"That's, Damon Salvatore. Total hottie, but a complete loner." Caroline says with a laugh, and Bonnie laughs too. Elena just giggles slightly, while still glancing at the man. His gaze was so cold and filled with spite that she felt guilty. 'Why would she even feel guilty though? If anything, people should feel bad for her.' She thought, glancing towards her friends once more.

While they're walking down the hallway, a voice yells out, "Elena, hey." She turns to see her handsome boyfriend, Matt Donivan.

"Hey, Matt." She replies with a bright smile. Matt places his hands on her waist, pulling her in to give her a chaste kiss.

"I was wondering when I'd see you again." Elena states with a glint in her eye.

"Hopefully it wasn't too long." Matt replies with a smirk.

"Almost, I'm just glad to see you right now." She replies, interlocking their fingers.

"Same, what class are you heading to?"

"Trigonometry." I state.

"Triggonoma- what?" Matt asks dumbfounded and she just rolls her eyes with a giggle.

"A 'nerd' class. As you so call it." Elena jokes.

"A beautiful and intelligent girlfriend? What more could I ask for?" Matt asks giving her one last kiss.

"What about you?" I ask and Matt looks confused. "Your first class today, I mean."

"Oh, it's athletics, however since it's the first day, we get to come to school at a normal time, and I'm going to the gym where coach will give us a lecture and all that." Matt replies and she nods.

"Okay, well I don't want to make you late. I'll see you at lunch?"

"See you, beautiful." Matt replies before heading off. Elena shakes her head with a smile before heading to class.

Hours pass by quickly, and soon enough it's lunchtime. Elena had just gotten tomato basil soup, pears, and broccoli at the lunchline, and she begins to head over to her table. Her phone on her tray buzzes and her attention is there. While checking it she bumped into someone spilling her tray everywhere. Luckily her new clothes weren't touched. "I'm sorry." Elena says bending down to clean up the mess. It appears as if whoever she bumped into food had also gotten thrown on the floor. Elena looks up to see who she bumped into, and is surprised to see Damon Salvatore, glaring at her with his arms crossed. Her eyes widen, and she freezes for a second.

"Are you going to continue?" He says impatiently.

"A little help would be nice." Elena says a bit frustratedly.

"Why? You bumped into me, now clean up the mess." He says unfazed, and she feels her anger flare up.

"Look asshole, it's just common decency to help with an accident." She says whole continuing to clean. He just scoffs and continues to watch. "Fine, I'll just finish this myself." Elena says angrily. Once she's done cleaning she stands up with a wad of soaked up paper towers and pushes into his white t-shirt underneath his leather jacket.

"My shirt!" He yells angrily.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't see ya there." Elena "apologizes" with a sinister grin.

"You, bitch." Damon spits at her.

"Should've helped me clean, huh?" she mocks at him.

"I'll just clean up this mess in the bathroom. Go sit with your fellow kind." He sneers at me and she's a bit taken aback. Fellow kind? My friends? They aren't bad. Sure they may gossip, but everyone does that. Fuming, she walks over to my table and sits down with a huff.

"Elena, are you okay?" Bonnie aks concerned and I just scoff.

"Nothing you need to worry about. I just had an unpleasant encounter. I can take care of myself though." Elena replies and Bonnie nods. She rubbed her temples to relieve some of the stress. 'Hopefully this school day would end soon.' She thinks feeling the grumble in her stomach from not having anymore food. This was going to be a long day.

It was now the end of a long school day, and luckily I haven't had any encounters with Damon. It surprised her how much of a jerk he was, especially since his brother was so sweet and chill. Elen has just said goodbye to Matt and her friends, and was on her way to the place she's always go on this particular day. She picked up a bouquet of tiger lilies, before continuing her way. Eventually she made it to the destination. The cemetery. Usually school didn't start this early, and she'd spend most of the day here, however since she did have school today, that wasn't necessarily an option. She made her way through the cemetery until she found what she was looking for. To some it's just a stone, but to Elena, it's so much more. The stone reads.

'Here lies Greyson and Miranda Gilbert. Greyson G. : 1975-2010. Miranda G. : 1978-2010. Here lies a husband, a wife, a father, a mother, and most importantly a friend to all.' Elena cried while she placed the tiger lillies down next to their grave. That flower was their signature flower. They had them for their wedding, in all of their houses, and on all of their dates. After ten minutes of just talking and mourning them, Elena walked over. She read this grave, 'Here lies Jeremy Gilbert. 2006-2010. Here lies a young soul, taken from this world too soon.' On the brink of sobbing Elena pulls out a tiny toy robot and places it on the grave. It's bad to lose someone in a car crash, but to be the only survivor out of your entire family was the worst feeling in the world. She missed Jeremy immensely. More than anything in the world, and she wished nothing more than to be able to hold and talk to her family again. She was only 7 when the event happened, and all that she remembers is being saved by a firefighter in the lake.

It was almost dusk when Elena was beginning to head home. She knew her uncle wouldn't worry, since he knew that she came here on this day. When she made it to her car, she accidentally dropped her car keys. When she was about to lean over to pick them up, someone flipped her over and covered her mouth. His hand swallowed her scream and with wide eyes she looks at her attacker. It was Lawson Beacher, a popular football guy at her school. "Oh, beautiful, Elena. How much I wanted to rip off your designer dress this morning and rock your world. Elena feels panic fill her as she squirms more, trying to escape his grasp. "We've got a fighter, huh. That kinda turns me on." He adds. 'Oh no. No, no, no. There is no way I am letting this asshole put a finger on me!' Elena thinks. Just when he;s about to kiss her neck she knees him in the balls, and he is sent to the ground, groaning in pain. "You bitch." He spits, but Elena just jumps and holds his arm in a spot where he can't move without breaking it.

"Next time, resurch who you're about to rape before you try to violate them." She spits at him before twisting his arm, breaking it. He yelps in pain, before Elena picks up the keys and get she drives away back to her home. It turns out that those Martial Arts classes did help after all. Once she gets home to her uncle's giant mansion, she goes inside and runs up to her room, tears streaming down her face. Never in a million years would she had ever considered that someone would try to rape her. She holds the pillow close to her seeking comfort. It was at moments like these that she missed her mom. Her hugs could cure any and all sadness, and she needed her warmth right now. Soon, that sorrow turned into anger, and Elena wanted nothing more than to get justice at her oppressor, and she had a good idea of how to do that. The real question is, how would she get, Damon Slavatore, to help her? Elena had a lot of planning in store for her, but she needed to make sure that he learns his lesson, and that he doesn't go after in other girls, who aren't as lucky as her.


	2. Chapter 2

Miss Perfect

**Before I get started with this next chapter, I just want to say that I am so grateful for all of the support, and I love seeing all of the replies. Also, I have deleted my first story, since I was a bit lost on the concept. I feel much more inspired and motivated to finish this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy.**

Elena was anxiously tapping her pencil, while she sat at her last class. She hadn't seen Damon all day, and She's been growing more and more nervous as the day went on. She needed to talk to him, however, she couldn't find him anywhere in the lunchroom. Elena quickly finish my exit ticket and turn it into the teacher. Since he's chill, he allowed her to exit early just as long as she stayed in the nearest bathroom until the bell rang. Elena gathered all of my items and said goodbye to her friends who were in that class period with her. She then make my way to the bathroom and quickly have a drink at the water fountain. She hadn't realized that she'd been dehydrated this entire day until now, and she greedily took large gulps of the cool water. The bell ringing is what causes her to stop, and she stood at the side, observing the crowd, hoping to see Damon here somewhere. Stefan got transferred into an art school, and they've lost contact ever since, so Damon was the only person she could approach on this. When she finally spotted him, she quickly ran up to him.

"Damon, finally. I need to talk to you." Elena says a bit out of breath from trying to catch up with him. He was walking pretty fast, and it was a bit hard to maneuver throughout the entire crowd. It seemed as if he's used to it and he glided through the people effortlessly.

When he hears her voice she notices him slow slightly before resuming his previous pace. "No thanks." He replies, not even facing her.

"Wait, please. It's serious, Damon." She says desperately and he groans.

"Meet me at the teacher's parking lot as soon as you get out." He replies snippy and she sighs in relief. She knew Damon wasn't a bad person, and him being willing to listen to her proved it. She happily made her way through the crowd before finally making it outside. She then took a separate path to the teacher's parking lot. She notices him leaning against a beautiful vintage car, that she recognized to be a Camero. "Took you long enough." Damon says with his arms crossed.

"There were a lot of people. Anyway, I don't feel like the teacher who owns this car would appreciate you leaning on it." She replies.

"Oh, this beauty. She's my baby." Damon says sliding his hand across the hood of the car.

"No way! What model is she? She looks like a 1969 Chevy Camaro model to me." Elena says absolutely in awe.

"Spot on guess, where did you learn so much about cars?" Damon asks with a brow raised. He was curious as to how she'd even know the model by first glance.

"My dad and I were very into those car shows. Not just the ones that show them off, but the ones that show their structure and the history of each car." She replies.

"Huh, well, anyway. What did you come here to talk about?" Damon asks.

Elena sighed before replying, "Look, I know that you hate me right now, but I need your help."

"Ha. So this is a joke. Elena Gilbert needs my help. Even if I could, what makes you think that I would even help you?" He asks while rolling his eyes.

"I know you're not a bad person, and I know that you want to do what's right." She replies and Damon groans before looking at her.

'What do you even need help with anyway?"

"Well, less of your help, and more so I need your dad." She replies and Damon's brows knit together.

"What? Why the heck would you need my dad?" Damon asked confusedly.

"He's the best lawyer in this area, and I seriously need the best of the best right now." Elena says.

"What did you do? Get a DUI? Listen, I can't help you, so why don't you bring your petty problems to someone else." Damon says while walking away.

"Someone tried to rape me, Damon." I say on the verge of tears. He immediately stops and turns around.

"What?" He asks, his tone a bit softer.

"L-Lawson Beacher… h-he-" She tries to say, but she feels her chest tighten and she falls to her knees crying.

"I knew he was an asshole, but geez this takes douche to a whole new level." Damon says before kneeling beside me. "Look, Elena. I know that this very hard for you right now, but just know that none of this was your fault… now, have you told anyone else about the situation?" Damon asks tilting her head up to look at him.

"N-no."

"Good, that a good way for a situation to get out of control. Now, did he… do anything other than attempt to sexually assault you?" Damon asks a bit hesitant.

"H-he… he made a comment about wanting to do t-things with me, a-and luckily I have training i-in martial arts s-so I was able to d-defend myself." She stutters, trying not to cry again.

Damon looks at her with a sad glance before saying, "I'll go talk to my father. I'll give his the general case of it, however, I'll set up a meeting for you to talk to him. Also… I just want you to know, that I don't hate you." Damon says walking off.

"Wait!" She calls out, and Damon turns in her direction once more. "I just w-wanted to say thank you. F-for everything."

"I'm doing it because I don't want others to experience the same events. Also, I am pretty sure, Stefan has your number saved in our phone book, so I don't need you to tell me." Damon says, a bit guarded once more. When he's about to walk off he adds, "Take care of yourself, Elena." He then walks off, and she feels a weight lift off her chest. She had a chance at actually being able to stop him. Maybe with Damon's father's help, she could actually put this asshole is his place. Show him that actions have consequences, and he can't treat people with disrespect and assault.

It's been a couple of hours since she'd talked to Damon, and she was currently sitting down at the glass kitchen table with her uncle. She was currently picking at her food, not having the appetite to eat anything right now. "You okay, sweetie?" She hears her uncle say, and she looks up at him for this first time since they've sat down.

"I'm fine, I'm just not hungry right now." She shrugs and an awkward silence fills the room. She knew she had to talk to her uncle eventually about this, however she didn't know where to start. 'Maybe I could just start with small talk?' she thought in her head. "How's work?" Elena asks, trying to make conversation with him.

"Okay, we had a couple setbacks, however we were able to get things back on track." Uncle John replies and Elena sighs. "Are you sure there isn't something bothering you? You've been a bit down for the whole time I've been here." He adds, and Elena closes her eyes, thinking over everything.

"Yeah, there is something I need to talk to you about." She admits.

"Okay, you can tell me anything."

"It all started yesterday evening, when I was visiting my parents and brother at the cemetery." She starts and he nods solemnly. "When I was about to get into the car, this guy from school... " She adds, but gets choked up at the end.

"What did he do, Elena?" Uncle John asks with his brows furrowed.

"H-he tried to rape m-me." She breathes out with her eyes closed. There was just silence for a couple of seconds. She assumed that he was just soaking up all of the information she had just told him.

"God damnit. I promised them… I promised them that I'd keep you safe if anything were to happen." He says, tears evident in his tone. She feels arms wrap around her and she leans into her uncle, letting out all the tears she had held in this entire day. " I promise, Elena. I'll do anything to help you." He adds and she finally opens her eyes.

"I t-talked to Damon, and he o-offered to set up a meeting with his dad and I." She says and Uncle John wipes some of the tears away.

"That's an excellent idea, how about after the meeting, you give him my number and tell him to call me about it. Okay, sweetie?" He asks.

"Yeah, that s-sounds good." She replies, feeling a bit better.

"Now, who was the dumb ass who tried to do… that to you?" He asks and I swallow hard at remembering.

"Lawson Beecher. That's why I needed Damon's dad, since Lawson's family is the wealthiest family in our area, and I need to make sure that we had the best prosecuting attorney." Elena says.

"Those entitled pricks! They've gotten away with too much already, we can't let them feel as if they can get away with something like this." John says.

"Thank you, I'm really glad that you're here." Elena says hugging him. "I agree with you, but the best way to handle this is by remaining calm. We're going to keep it private until we prosecute him. Then, the tabloids would've gotten wind of the situation." She adds and he nods.

"Just… if you need anything, come talk to me okay?" He asks.

"Okay, thank you so much." She replies. The rest of the night goes by pretty quickly, with the two just conversing, and getting to know one another for the first time in awhile. Despite everything that's happened, everything seemed to be pointing in the right direction.

It's been a couple of days, and Damon did as he said he would, and set up a meeting with her and his father. She was currently fiddling with her formal skirt, while sitting down next to him office. There was a man at the counter who appeared to be his assistant. In about 10 minutes the man said, "Miss Gilbert, Mr. Salvatore is ready, and you may enter his office now." She just nods before standing up and opening the door. There sits a professional looking man with a sharp suit. He had light brown hair with hazel eyes. He actually looked a lot like Stefan.

With a warm smile he stands up, extends his hand to her and says, "Hello, you must be, Miss Gilbert. My name is Giuseppe Salvatore." She shakes his hand and he adds, "Please, take a seat, miss." She looks down to see a nice looking black chair, and takes a seat. When he takes a seat he clears his throat, before beginning again, "So, my son had set up this meeting, however he only told me who you were and that it was an assault case. Now, if you're comfortable with me asking, what exactly happened?"

"W-well, basically a guy from my school named, Lawson Beecher, tried to… rape me." She says trying to remain as strong as possible.

"Ah, the Beechers. A well respected and wealthy family. Most lawyers wouldn't dare to prosecute anyone in that family, however I believe in justice. Allowing wealthy families to do what they want isn't helping anyone."

"Exactly, which is why I wanted to come to you, sir. I knew that you were the most capable, and able to succeed." She says.

"I actually did have a meeting set up with a Beecher, presumably about this situation, however I'll cut off all contacts with them."

"Thank you so much, sir."

"It's nothing, dear. Now, before we take any legal action, I need to know if you have any sort of information or evidence that we could use against him?" He asks and she tries to think. There was something about the experience that was off, it was moderate… a buzzing.

"No way." She says with wide eyes.

"Hmm?"

"I believe that there may have possibly been a drone. That sick bastard was taping it, maybe wanting to watch it later." Elena says covering her mouth once she finished that statement.

"That could be something we could use, however we don't have any authority yet to get a warrant, and he certainly won't hand over his drone. We need to find something to do." He replies and Elena thinks once more. Something on the tip of her tongue.

"I think that the Beechers are hosting a party on Saturday. Maybe we could do something then?" She asks and Giuispee thinks it over.

"Perhaps we could send one or two people to try and find the drone."

"Sign me up." She says and he is taken aback.

"I don't mean to distress you, but I'm not willing to send you there. You could get hurt."

"Please, it's the only way I'll feel more validated. I promise you that I will try my best, just please let me do this." She begs and he sighs.

"If I send you in there, I'm going to have to send my son with you. He's probably my best undercover agent, and I believe he'll be able to get the two of you in and out." He says with a sigh and Elena smiles.

"Thank you so much sir. When and where should we meet again?"

"At my house, we'll provide the clothes, makeup and gear, so just arrive at 3:00 P.M on Saturday."

"Okay, got it. Now, before I go, I need to give you my uncle's number since he'd want to communicate with you about this." She replies, quickly writing down a number on a post it note.

"Alright, I'll call him as soon as I can. Thank you miss for stopping by."

"It's me who should be thanking you, sir. Also, I assure you that my uncle will be able to pay you for your services."

"I don't doubt it. Try to act as normal as possible, so Lawson doesn't suspect anything, okay?"

"Okay, goodbye sir."

"Goodbye, Miss." He replies, and Elena heads out with a right smile. This couldn't have gotten better. She was now more prepared than ever to give justice where it's needed. Lawson is going to pay for his crimes against humanity. She would make sure of that.


	3. Chapter 3

Miss Perfect

"Are you okay?" Elena hears a voice ask her. She turns her head to see Bonnie, who was stretching beside her. It was the start of the Friday cheer practice, and admittedly, Elena hadn't been the most present currently. The cheer team had two more weeks before the start of the football season, and understandably all of the girls were pretty nervous and excited.

"Yeah, sorry. I couldn't sleep last night. I'll try to be more present." She replies and Bonnie smiles sweetly at her.

"Whatever it is, I hope everything gets better for you."

"Thanks, Bon'." Elena replies with a smile. They continue through the rest of stretching, and when all of the other girls are also done, they begin practice. Surprisingly, cheer practice calmed her a bit. It made her feel more normal and like a part of a community. When practice is over Elena is putting all of her items up, when she hears people approach her.

"Hey, you wanna go out tonight?" She hears Caroline ask behind her. When she turns around she also sees that Matt and Bonnie are also with her.

"Uh…" Elena starts, checking her phone. No new notifications. "You know what… sure. Going out for dinner seems nice right about now." She adds with a soft smile.

"Great, are you okay with riding with me?" Matt asks her and she nodded.

"Yeah that'll be fine." She replies.

"Okay, since I gave you and Bonnie and ride to school today, I'll give Bonnie a ride. Are we heading to the usual?"

"Yup. See you girls there." Matt replies before they walk off. When they're out of sight, Matt turns to me and leans in to kiss me. I back away slightly, still feeling uncomfortable by any form of interaction like that. Especially after what happened on Monday. "Are you okay, babe? You haven't kissed me since Monday."

"Yeah, sorry it's just… I'm tired and I'm also just not feeling it right now. You know?" She says reassuringly and he nods.

"Alright, shall we?" He asks extended his hand for her to take it. She holds it and they walk over to his car. On the way to the cafe, there is a comfortable silence, and the truck windows are rolled down, giving Elena a nice breeze. They make it in about 15 minutes, and they head inside. Bonnie and Caroline are already there, so they just join their table, sitting next to each other. Matt and Elena sit in the part of the booth that wasn't taken up yet, and open the menus.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving." Elena says enthusiastically. She loved all of the food that this cafe made, and she was looking forward to having some down time.

"Oh, definitely me as well. I could probably eat a horse right now." Matt says and Bonnie laughs.

"That's because you do eat horse sized meals everyday, Matt." Bonnie says while laughing and he rolls his eyes.

"Shut up, witchy." He teases and she mock gasps.

"El', did you hear that. I think you boyfriend was mocking me." Bonnie playfully fires and Elena laughs.

"Sorry, I'm too busy looking at the menu. You're on your own this time, girl." She says towards Bonnie.

"Yeah, I should probably do the same. I'll deal with you later." Bonnie replies, glaring at Matt. Everyone then scans their menus until everyone is ready to order. Coming to this cafe was actually a good idea, and everyone is having such an amazing time, including me. I actually feel calm and relaxed for the first time since monday. Halfway through dinner however, Bonnie receives a phone call. While she's talking she looks more and more panicked, so when she hangs up, we're all a little more that confused.

"Is something wrong?" Caroline asks Bonnie.

"Yeah, I completely forgot that I needed to go to this family gathering, and if I don't leave now, I'll be late." She explains.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bonnie. If I knew I wouldn't have gotten us all here." Elena apologizes and Bonnie smiles sweetly at her while she gathers all of her items.

"No, Elena. It's not your fault. I completely forgot." Bonnie says and when she's about to walk away she remembers something. "Oh crap, Care' I forgot that I need a ride, can you drop me off?" Bonnie adds.

"Of course." She replies gathering her stuff. What started as a playful get together turned into a complete disaster, and now, Matt and I are sitting alone.

"So… that went well." He jokes and she let out a haste laugh.

"Tell me about it." She replies running her hand through her hair in a frustrated gesture. "At least we're still together." She adds with a small smile.

"Yeah, and I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Matt says, and she looks at him with her head tilted in confusion.

"What?"

"Well, we've been dating for about three weeks now, and I wanted to talk about the future with you." Matt says and her eyes widen in shock.

"The future? Matt, we're just Juniors." She replies.

"I know, it's just… I like to think ahead, you know. And I really wanted to discuss this with you."

"Matt, I just want to relax right now though, besides, we haven't even dated for a month yet. Why don't we save this conversation further down the line." She says defensively, and Matt appears to be a bit frustrated.

"Elena, you can't keep pushing any form of commitment away. We need to speak about this topic eventually."

"I agree, but what I'm saying is not right now."

"C'mon Elena, please don't push me away."

"I'm not meaning to, but one, I'm not in the mood to talk about this right now, and two, we're too young and too early into the relationship."

"So what you're saying is that this relationship means nothing to you right now?!"

"Of course not, I'm just saying it's too early to be talking about this."

"You're just scared, Elena!"

"Stop saying that! I'm not scared, and I really don't appreciate you speaking that way to me!"

"And I don't appreciate you brushing every serious conversation off."

"Ugh, just shut up! You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"I thought you actually cared, Elena. Turns out your just scared of anything good that comes into your life." He says coldly while getting up.

"Wait, Matt please." She replies, standing up grabbing his arm he just flings her off and continues walking. "Please, don't leave me here. I have no way of getting home." Elena adds desperately, but he just exits the cafe without any hesitation before driving away. She quickly pays for the meal and with tears in her eyes, Elena walks out of the cafe. If being stranded in a rural cafe joint wasn't bad enough, it started to rain as soon as she got out. Great, Elena was in her cheer uniform being rained on with no way of getting home, and she was freezing. Just her luck. Elena pulls out her phone, however it's been dead since 6th period. Perfect, it seems the only was of getting home is walking 15 miles back. I begin walking, holding my arms tightly to me while shivering. After 10 minutes my feet were sore, and there have been no sign of cars except for one that just passed her, despite her efforts. At this point she could see her fingertips turning blue, and she was becoming colder and colder by the minute. No, after everything I can't die of hypothermia out here, but by her vision becoming more blurred and her face and hands becoming numb, it seemed like that was what was going to happen. The sound of an engine in the background causes her to snap back into consciousness, and she turns seeing bright headlights. 'This is my chance.' She thought with a bit of hope. She tries her best to signal the car, however with her muscles weak and her vision blurred, she found it nearly impossible to complete the action. Luckily when the car was close it slowed down. At this point, Elena was nearly passed out, and when her legs gave out the person inside the vehicle caught her. She could barely open her eyes when the person placed her in the passenger's seat. She wasn't fully conscious for a couple of minutes, however when she rested for a couple more minutes in the heat, she was finally able to move. She opened her eyes to see none other than Damon sitting next to her.

He looked a bit panicked, and when he looked over to check on me again, seeing that she was awake he asked, "How are you doing?"

"I got abandoned by my boyfriend, trapped in the rain and I nearly died of hypothermia. Never better." She replies weakly and he nods a bit solemnly.

"Well, I was planning on stopping at a small place nearby that had hot chocolate and good desserts, maybe that could help?" He offers and Elena smiles.

"Hot chocolate sounds great." She replies sitting up. It was then that she noticed that his leather jacket was around her, and even though she was wet, he gave it to her to help warm her up. She was beginning to take it off to give it back to him, however he stopped her.

"No, you still need to warm up, and besides, it looks better on you." He dismisses.

"I doubt that." She says leaning back against the chair, and she watches him as he smirks slightly.

"Are you saying I look good in my leather jacket?" He asks smugly and she rolls her eyes.

"You wish." Elena teases and he chuckles.

"So anyway, why did your boyfriend abandon you?" Damon asks curiously and she slouches a bit at the topic.

"We got into a fight." She replies with a shrug.

"What about, if you mind me asking."

"Life… future. He's got it all mapped out."

"And you don't want it?"

"I don't know what I want." She replies honestly and he just chuckles.

"Well, that's not true. You want what everybody wants." He says and I look at him with a small smile.

"What? Dark, mysterious, all-knowing classmate."

"You want a love that consumes you. You want passion, and adventure and even a little danger." He replies and I find myself imagining it. He's right.

"I think I've gotten more than what I've bargained for in the, 'danger', department." She jokes.

"Heh, yeah, remind me to keep you from going to far away joints."

"Duly noted. Now, you seem to know much about what others want, but what about you?" She asks curiously before adding, "Same thing?"

"Well, yeah, but I also had always imagined myself with my Camero, windows rolled down, feeling the breeze while Johnny Cash plays in the background. I'm driving down the interstate, traveling the world." He replies and she smiles at the thought of that future.

"Mmm, sounds nice." She hums dreamily.

"Anything in particular that you want out of life?" He asks and she thinks it over carefully.

"My dream is to help people… so maybe I can find a job in the medical field." Elena replies with a shrug.

"You know, any job can help people, just in different ways. Now, you don't seem to be enthusiastic about becoming a doctor or nurse, so what do you really want?"

"I love writing. I guess my dream is to live everyday to the fullest. A new adventure to take on, while writing fantasies that allow my imagination to flow. I'd live on the road, at least until I settle, and I'd most likely want someone by my side. You know, in case I get lonely." She replies and she notices him smile.

"You know what? That doesn't sound too bad."

"Do you not usually like what people have to say about the future?"

"Most people go on and on about first collage, then marriage, then kids, then maybe a couple trips as time goes on, then retirement before they die. It just sounds fucking boring as hell." Damon says and she laughs.

"It turns out we can agree on one thing." She says. Then, Damon turns into this little bakery and parks up front, since there aren't many people there. As soon as they walk inside she's hit with a mouthwatering aroma. "Mmmm, it smells so good here." She says happily.

"They make the best baked goods in the area. Trust me." He says as they walk up to the counter. There is a friendly looking older woman at the counter who smells like vanilla, and she flashes Damon a warm smile.

"Sonny, it's so good to see you again, and what fine lady have you brought here today?" She asks looking at Elena with a warm gaze.

"Hi, ma'am. I'm Elena, it's a pleasure to meet you." Elena replies kindly and the woman smiles brighter.

"Oh, you're too kind. Damon, you have really found yourself a keeper." She says towards Damon and he tenses.

"Oh, she's not. We're not.-"

"Thank you." Elena interrupts him and he looks at her wide eyed.

"What are you doing?" He whispers in her ear.

"She's so happy, I can't take that away from her." Elena whispers back and he sighs.

"Oh, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Judith, however I go by my middle name, Ray." She says snapping their attention back to her.

"It's a beautiful name." Elena compliment and she giggles.

"Oh, stop it. You're making an old woman blush. Now, since I don't wish to hold up the line, what would you two like to have." She asks and Elena looks at the selection unknowing of what to get.

"Two hot chocolates, and I'll have the maple and caramel cookies." Damon says.

"And for you dear?" She asks looking at Elena.

"What do you suggest?"

"Oh, definitely some of the fresh baked Raspberry Almond Shortbread cookies." She says and Elena can feel her mouth water at the thought.

"Yes, that sounds heavenly." Elena says cheerily. She then begins to pull out her card, but Damon stops her.

"I'm not going to have you pay."

"Well too bad, because I want to." She replies.

"No, Elena, allow me."

"No, allow me."

"Oh, you two are so cute. It all on the house, you two have a seat." Ray says.

"Oh, Ray, I can pay." Elena says towards her.

Damon buts in saying, "No, you won-"

"Please, you'll give me a heart attack from watching you two bicker, please I insist. Now sit down before I whoop you." Ray jokes and Damon smiles.

"Yes, ma'am." He says and they walk to a booth. They sit down on opposite ends and she feels herself laughing.

"Sorry, Miss. Harper can be chirpy at times." Damon says with a chuckle.

"Oh please, she's a sweetheart. I love her already." Elena replies waving her hand in dismissal.

"I figured you two would get along."

"You seem to be close with her."

"She's like a mother to me."

"What's wrong with your actual mother?" Elena asks and he freezes as if she'd just shot him. "Did… I say something wrong?"

"No. I just… uh… oh look, the foods coming." Damon says and the waitress hands them the baked goods. Elena's almost distracted by the smell of the baked goods, however she feels as if she has to press on in this conversation.

"Damon, seriously. Talk to me. I opened up about my boyfriend problems, the least you could do is tell me what's wrong." She says.

"That's different." Damon replies and she sighs.

"You're right. I shouldn't press on about things you aren't comfortable talking about. I'm sorry." Elena says sincerely.

"Eh, it's fine. You should probably eat before it gets cold." Damon says and she nods. Elena picks up the gooey and warm cookie and takes a big bite of it. The flavors explode in her mouth and she nearly moans from the taste.

"Mmmm, this is soooo good." Elena says before taking another bite. Before long she finished the cookie, and it wasn't until then that she realized she hadn't yet tried the hot chocolate. She picks up the cup and takes a sip. It's not scorching hot or cold. Just right, so she takes a larger gulp allowing herself to enjoy the flavors. Within the next five minutes she downed the drink, and with a satisfying gulp, she places the cup down. She hears Damon laughing at her and glares at him. "What?"

"Oh, it's just that you got some chocolate on you. Here let me." He says leaning in to wipe the hot chocolate from the corner of her mouth. It slightly pulls her lip down, and she blushes at the scene. Damon abruptly pulls back, also blushing and he clears his throat nervously. "So, um… could you tell me where you live so I can drop you off?" He asks nervously, avoiding eye contact.

"216 Maple Street." Elena replies just as nervous.

"Alright, we should go." Damon says, ther about to leave when they hear Ray.

"Wait, please. I have a wall of pictures of couples who have happened to pass through here, and I was wondering if I could take you guys picture?"

"Oh, uhm… like just standing side by side?" Damon asks jittery.

"Oh, how about hugging. That'd be so cute." She says happily and their blushes deepen.

"Oh, I think we're quite alright…" Elena draws.

"Please, I need to have something to remember this by. I promise you won't regret it." She says and they both sigh. Elena wraps her arms around Damon and he encloses her in his. Elena leans into his sturdy body, and can't help but think that it feels nice to be nestled into him. Damon feels the top hairs tickle his neck as he holds her, however it's not in an annoying way at all, and he almost sees it as kind of endearing. They both look towards the camera with smiles as she snaps a photo of them. "So, cute. Thank you both for coming." Elena and Damon separate, their faces most likely looking like cherries.

"It w-was a pleasure." Elena stutters.

"Yeah, bye Miss Harper." Damon replies. They both walk off and Elena looks out the car window the entire ride home. When they get home they still don't share a word, however while she's walking to the front door she gives one glance back towards Damon, to see him looking at her. Her stomach fills with butterflies and she looks back forward and scurries to the door. She opens it and sighs, leaning back against it. Today has certainly been a long day, and she couldn't quite get rid of the giddiness in her system. It almost made her forget about her mission tomorrow… almost, until she realized that she was going on the mission with his son. That one and only Damon Salvatore. 'Oh, it seems as if tomorrow will be just as long as a day.' She thought as she headed up to her room. If only she knew, just how correct she was.


End file.
